


Who is he?

by Surrealx3



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Flirting, Fluff, Identity Reveal, M/M, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, because oblivious Bucky, mentioned Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-09 17:50:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8905693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Surrealx3/pseuds/Surrealx3
Summary: Bucky's ex, Natasha, gets him a job working at Stark Industries. He keeps bumping into a hot guy around the place but no one seems to know who he's talking about. How can he ask the guy on a date if he doesn't even know his name?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mariana_oconnor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariana_oconnor/gifts).



> Warning: Vulgar language ahead

Bucky’s first day working security for Stark Industries is pretty anticlimactic. He wore leather gloves with his security uniform so there were no questions about his arm. He just walked around the building, met new people, oh, and had to force a guy to show him his access pass. Using force.

He had been walking down an empty hallway, still acquainting himself with the different floors and rooms when he saw a hot guy walking towards him, eyes glued to his phone. Usually, Stark workers had their access passes on a lanyard or clips to their waist or something. This guy didn’t have anything but doe eyes and sex hair.

His mouth went dry before he scolded himself. He was working. No drooling over guys while he was working. He cleared his throat, “Access pass?”

The guy kept on walking as if he didn’t hear a word.

Bucky said louder, “Sir, I need to see your access pass.”

The man looked up and glanced around. He asked, confused, “Are you talking to me?”

Bucky couldn’t help replying sarcastically, “Not at all, doll. I was talking to the guy right next to you.”

The man blinked at him, wide eyes making him look like a forest creature, “Don’t you know who I am?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be asking, would I?” Bucky huffed, “Now, access pass, _now_.”

The man stared at him for a minute before shaking his head, “I don’t have time for this.” He tried to stalk pass but Bucky stepped in his way.

“I’m going to ask nicely one more time before I am forced to eject you from the building.”

“Listen, I don’t know who you are but you’re obviously new so I’ll let this go,” the man said sternly, “Now get out of my way before you lose your job.” The man put his hand out to push Bucky, something he has somewhat sadistically hoped would happen.

Barely a second later, Bucky had his arm twisted behind his back and had the man against the wall. “Failure to adhere to security checks is considered hostile.”

“You actually read the fucking handbook?” The man screeched, shocked. “Who the hell reads the handbook?”

“People who take their job seriously,” Bucky replied, smirking. “Now, darlin’, if you weren’t so pretty, I’d have called back-up by now. But instead, I’ll just ask again. Can I see your access pass?”

The man grumbled loudly about ‘damn newbies’ but nodded. He motioned towards the phone he dropped while being restrained. “It’s on my phone.”

Bucky let him go and picked up his phone for him with his most sugary sweet smile. “Here you go, sir.”

The man snatched it away from him, grumbling, “If you weren’t so hot, you’d be so fired. With a law suit smacked into the mix.” He showed Bucky a pass identical to the ones everyone carries around and opened a door with it just to prove that it worked. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Bucky smirked, “Have a nice day, sir.” He walked away without waiting for a reply.

The man yelled at his back, “Fuck you.”

“Only if you ask nicely,” Bucky called back.

 

At the end of the day, Bucky returned to the security office and found Natasha sitting there, cleaning her nails with a knife. As if that wasn’t intimidating.

She glanced up and asked, “How was the first day?”

Bucky shrugged, “Alright. I met a really cute guy but didn’t get his name. Maybe you can fill me in?”

“Sure. What did he look like?”

“Big brown eyes, brunet, a goat tee, and really fucking cute.”

Natasha hummed, “Were they a visitor?”

“Nope, they had an employee pass.”

She frowned and shook her head. “Not ringing any bells. Though it sounds like… No, I doubt it. It might be some expert recruited for one of the projects. It’s not rare for SI to bring in people temporarily.”

“Damn, hope I run into him again.”

“Why didn’t you get his name in the first place?”

“He refused to comply with standard access pass checking procedure,” Bucky said easily, “But you know, all the boys start singing a different tune once I get his hands on them.” He winked at Natasha, laughing at her unamused expression. “What?”

She just shook her head at him. “Only you, Barnes. I’m starting to think ‘troublesome’ is just your type.”

“Nah but I am a sucker for pretty eyes.”

 

The next time he saw the hot stranger, more than a week had passed. This time the man looked dead on his feet, bags visible under his eyes and two cups of coffee in his hands. When he saw Bucky, he eyed him warily and asked, “Do we need to go through the whole access pass thing again?”

Bucky shook his head, the corners of his mouth downturned, “What happened to you? You look like shit.”

The man huffed a wry laugh, “Thanks. I’ve just been putting in some overtime.”

“Do you need a ride home?” Bucky felt his mother hen switch get flipped, “You’re going to get yourself killed if you drive home like this. I can take my break early. We’ll stop to get you something to eat too. You look too thin. Let me just call Nat-”

“Woah, woah, slow down there,” the man looked surprised, “So this is what you’re like when you’re not being an asshole. Noted.”

“If you just showed me your access pass the first time I asked, I wouldn’t have been an asshole,” Bucky pointed out.

“What, but,” the man’s jaw snapped shut. He shook his head, “I’m not having this argument. Don’t worry, I’m having a buddy pick me up. Thanks though.”

“No problem.” Bucky urged him on, “Go get some sleep and don’t come back until you’re fuckable again.”

The man huffed another laugh but this one was amused, he flashed Bucky a blinding grin, “I’ll see you later, James.”

Bucky blinked at him, surprised that he knew his name. He found himself shouting at the man’s back, “Call me Bucky.”

The man stopped long enough to say, “I’m Tony.”

 

“Hey, Bruce,” Bucky sidled up to the scientist, “How’s it going?”

Bruce looked at him warily, “Fine, I guess. Why?”

“No reason,” Bucky leaned on the lab table, aiming for casual and missing by a mile. “Do I need a reason to visit my favorite scientist?”

Bruce gave him a _look_ too similar to Natasha’s patented ‘I see through your bullshit’ look. “Well considering this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had; I’m going to say yes.”

Bucky conceded sheepishly, “Fair enough. Do you know a Tony that works here?”

“I know a few of them,” Bruce answered, “Why?”

Bucky sighed, “I saw one earlier today. For the second time. This time I got his name, first name at least, but failed to get his number. I was hoping to hunt him down and ask.”

Bruce looked sympathetic, “Sorry but there’s a lot of Tony’s here. If you look at the work calendar, there’s actually a Tony Appreciation Day.”

Bucky snorted, “Wow, Stark sure loves kissing his own ass.”

Bruce smiled and shrugged, “Personally, I think it’s nice. Even though I’m not a Tony. It creates a light hearted atmosphere when we’re drowning in deadlines. You’ll see. Stressed scientists aren’t the friendliest people to be around.”

“Can’t wait to see you of all people stressed,” Bucky commented.

Bruce just smiled wryly, “Trust me, you wouldn’t like me when I’m stressed.”

 

 

 

The next time he saw Tony, the man was wearing a fitted black suit that did everything for his slim waist and far too much for his ass.

Bucky wolf-whistled, “I know I said to look fuckable but you didn’t have to go all out for little ol’ me.”

Tony smirked, “Trust me, if I thought you were that little, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Bucky grinned, glad to see that he was flirting back. “If you give me your number, you can come over and find out for sure.”

“Mr. Barnes, I am not that type of girl,” Tony said, flabbergasted, “I only put out on the third date and no sooner.”

“Alright, I can respect that,” Bucky nodded with mock seriousness, “So where’d you wanna go for our first date? And how much do I have to seduce you to get it to count for two?”

Tony barked a laugh, “Your romancing can use some work.”

Bucky tilted his head thoughtfully and asked, “Did I mention how I can see my future in your eyes?”

Tony laughed again but his cheeks pinked, “Okay, fuck, you’re good. You earned my number. And a date. This Saturday, maybe?”

“Sure, there’s this great burger joint near my house. We can eat there after seeing a movie,” Bucky offered. He held out his phone.

“I take it back, you suck at romancing,” Tony was smiling like he really didn’t mind. He accepted Bucky’s phone and typed in his number. “But sure, I like movies and burgers. Text me your address and I’ll pick you up.”

 “Only if I get to pay,” Bucky agreed. “Guy like you deserves to be spoiled.”

Tony scoffed, suppressing a touched smile. “Whatever makes you feel better.”

  

 

Bucky barged into Steve’s room, a frantic look in his eyes. “Steve, I need help.”

Alarmed, Steve jumped out of bed, sketch book and pencil falling to the ground, “What’s wrong, Buck?”

“I can’t figure out what to wear for my date and Tony’s going to be here in ten minutes.”

Steve’s entire being deflated. “Dammit, Bucky, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I’m going to have a heart attack if I’m not dressed before Tony’s rings the doorbell,” Bucky said, a tad dramatically. “I tried to call Nat but she said something about it being bad etiquette to help her ex dress for a date and I think she was just mad because I interrupted her and Clint and I have no other friends with anything remotely close to a sense of fashion. I’m planning to tell him about my arm today. I need something to make sure he sticks around.”

“Bucky, calm down,” Steve chuckled, “It doesn’t matter how you dress as long as you’re yourself. If he’s really a good guy, your arm will change nothing.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “You know what, I’ll call Peggy. She’s forgiven me for the incident, right?”

Steve sighed, “Yes, she knows you weren’t in a good place.”

“Good, thanks, Stevie,” Bucky waved distractedly and left out.

If there was anything he loved more than Steve, it was possibly his girlfriend who took him calling for fashion advice in stride and not like it was the first time they spoke since he yelled himself hoarse after she accidentally touched his metal arm. It wasn’t his best moment. Back then, the arm was too new and the wound was too raw.

When Tony rang the doorbell at five on the dot, Bucky made a mad dash for the door but Steve still made it before him. Steve looked stricken, staring at Tony like he couldn’t believe who was at the door. Tony looked somewhat bashful, hand rubbing his neck while the other held a small bouquet of red carnations.

“You got me flowers?” Bucky blurted, sort of awed. He pushed Steve out the way to get to the utterly adorable man at the door.

Tony shrugged, attempting to pass it off as nothing, “Isn’t that what you do when you like someone? I mean, that’s what all the movies say and my friends thought maybe it was a good idea. Well Jarvis and Pepper said it was a good idea. Rhodey was no help at all. Apparently ‘just be yourself’ is considered good advice these days.”

“Fuck, you’re adorable,” Bucky took the flowers gingerly and handed them all to Steve. “Put these in water. See you later.”

Bucky took Tony’s hand, not even noticing that he was using the prosthetic, and pulled his down the porch stairs.

“Have fun,” Steve shouted belatedly. 

Bucky faltered when he saw the Aston Martin sitting on the curb. He muttered beneath his breath, “Hot damn.”

“You, uh, like it?” Tony asked, hesitantly.

“Like it?” Bucky swung around to stare at him, “Tony, she’s a beauty. It must have cost you a fortune.”

Tony shrugged noncommittally and got in the driver’s seat. Bucky slide in after him. They first headed to the movie theatre to see a frankly awful movie. The only thing that made it worth the money he spent on the tickets was Tony’s steady commentary. More than one person hissed at them because they were laughing too hard.

When they made it back to Tony’s car, they were still laughing.

“That was horrible,” Bucky grinned.

Tony nodded, “We have to do that again sometime.”

“Movie night at my house next time?” Bucky suggested, “I can order pizza and we can watch the most horrible movies we can get our hands on.”

Tony looked at him like he couldn’t believe he was real.

Bucky asked apprehensively, smile waning, “What?”

“No, I just, you,” Tony stammered, “Usually, people like, you know, big stuff for dates.”

“I guess,” Bucky shrugged, “I mean, if you want to go out and do something instead, I don’t mind. I just thought it’d be nice to talk without interruptions. As much as love when people threaten to kick me out, it’s not as fun when it’s not Steve.”

“No, I’d love to hang out at your house,” Tony assured him, “I’m just not used to dating someone who doesn’t expect fancy dinners and opera houses. Are you sure Steve won’t mind?”

“Nah, he’s been trying to get me to start dating since I came back,” Bucky’s smile was somewhat depreciative. “He wanted me to be more like the me before I joined the army.” He glanced at Tony, who was listening attentively without pity. He didn’t offer a hollow thanks for his service or ask why he was discharged. “Bet you didn’t know you were PTSD-ridden veteran.”

“Actually,” Tony looked guilty, “I did kind of know. About the veteran part. After you access pass checked me, I looked you up in the company’s system. I helped make that arm of yours.”

Bucky stared at him, feeling shocked and exposed. But most of all relieved. “So you know about the arm.”

It wasn’t quite a question but Tony nodded, getting a dreamy look on his face, “It’s a marvelous mix of biology and mechanical engineering. I’ve been trying to figure out a non-awkward way of asking you to let me see it in action all night.”

Bucky huffed a disbelieving laugh, “You fucking nerd.”

“Scientist,” Tony retorted indignantly.

“Fucking nerd,” Bucky repeated, grinning from ear to ear, “Put this baby into drive. I’m going to show you the best burger place in New York.”

He directed Tony to a little mom and pops place called Uncle Ben’s. As soon as they walked in the door, they were greeted with a muffled shout. “Hang on, I’ll be right there.”

Bucky sighed fondly and grabbed a menu. He handed it to Tony and said, “You go ahead and find a seat. I’m going to go help this little dork.”

Tony gave him a curious look but nodded.

Bucky headed into the little supply closet hidden in the corner of the store. Peter, Uncle Ben’s nephew, was reaching for a pack of toilet paper that was on the highest shelf but the tip of his fingers barely touched it. Bucky sighed, “Kid, you really need to learn how to ask for help.”

Peter started, then grinned at Bucky. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Bucky shook his head at him and grabbed the toilet paper, “You’re the only one waiting tables tonight?”

“Gwen’s dad had a heart attack so she had to leave,” Peter explained sheepishly. “MJ is on her way though.”

“Thank goodness. When she gets here, tell her I want her for me and my date. It’s been going well so far. I don’t need anyone spilling drinks on either of us.” Bucky gave him a pointed look.

“That was only once,” Peter argued. “I swear, Steve tripped me on purpose.”

“Whatever you say, Petey,” Bucky said teasingly. He was pretty sure Steve did trip him on purpose. His friend was not very happy with him that day and could be pretty conniving. “Are you going to take our orders or what?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Peter followed him out.

Bucky scanned the room for Tony and spotted him in the corner, away from just about everyone there. “There he is,” Bucky headed towards him but stopped when Peter pulled at his sleeve. “What’s up, Petey?”

Peter stared wide-eyed at Tony before processing Bucky’s question. “Um, Bucky, isn’t he…” Peter trailed off.

“Gorgeous?” Bucky finished, smiling adoringly at Tony, “Yeah. Really funny too. And smart. I’m going to show him my arm because apparently he thinks it’s ‘marvelous.’” He caught Tony’s eye and watched the man light up and wave for him to come over.

“No, I mean, he’s,” Peter stopped, glancing between the two men, a knowing smile creeping onto his mouth. “He’s lucky to have you. Any guy would be.”

“Don’t start sucking up now,” Bucky ruffled his hair, “your tip is not getting any bigger just because I’m on a date.”

“I’m serious,” Peter laughed, “You’re awesome. Which is why I have to make he’s not planning to break your fragile heart.” Peter marched over, face set with determination. Bucky followed behind, unsure of whether or not to stop him. He wasn’t too worried considering Peter was the equivalent of a wet kitten compared to Steve. He stopped in front of Tony and asked, “What’s your intentions with our Bucky?”

“Debauch him as soon as possible,” Tony replied easily, his grin wide and teasing. “Maybe in the car on our way home.”

“Oh, man,” Peter face-palmed, the tip of his ears reddening. “You guys deserve each other.”

“That’s what you get for trying to interrogate my date,” Bucky gloated, “Now go tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben that I want my usual. What are you getting, Tony?”

Tony closed his menu, “I’ll get whatever you’re having.”

“Alrighty,” Peter chirped, taking the menu from Tony. “It’ll be out in a sec.”

When Peter was out of earshot, Bucky said sheepishly, “Sorry for him. And ditching you.”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” Tony assured him, “Better him than Steve. Have I mentioned how he looks like he can crack my head open with his bicep?”

“That’s my Stevie,” Bucky joked. “Speaking of, both of them reacted weirdly to you. Like they recognized you or something.”

“Yeah?” Tony laughed nervously. “Didn’t notice.”

 

 ===================

“So I finally give in to Steve’s puppy eyes and we go on a double date,” Bucky recounted to Clint a couple weeks later. He was sitting in the security office, flipping through all the cameras on the premises while Natasha and Sam did their rounds. Clint was leaning on his arm rest, humming along to his story. “And the whole date, his date couldn’t keep her eyes off of mine. I think she wanted to make a move on him.”

Clint snorted, “I have met Steve. If your Tony is good enough to make her cheat on a guy like him, he must be a god.”

“He is,” Bucky said affectionately. 

He could almost hear Clint roll his eyes but didn’t care.

Suddenly, Clint stood straight as a pole. Bucky turned around, alarmed by the sudden change. Clint nodded at the woman that stepped into the room and the man behind her, “Ms. Potts,” he greeted stiffly, “And Mr. S-“

“Tony? What’re you doing here, gorgeous?” Bucky interrupted. Ms. Potts gave him a strange look so he made a mental note to cut back on the enthusiasm when in the workplace.

 Tony walked over and greeted him with a kiss. “Hey, Bucky-bear. Is Romanov around?”

“No, she’s doing her rounds,” Bucky pulled Tony so he’d straddle him, “Why don’t you hang around ‘til she gets back?”

“What the fuck is happening?” Clint asked, staring at the two.

Bucky looked at him, unimpressed. “I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m flirting with my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but,” Clint paused, “Actually, now your story makes more sense. _I_ would dump Steve for him.”

“Um, what?” Tony looked between them, confused, “What’s this about Steve?”

“I was just telling Clint about our double date with him and Peggy,” Bucky explained, “And how Peggy couldn’t keep her eyes off of you. I love her like a sister but I don’t know what I’d do if she tried to make a move on you.”

Tony chortled, “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Buckaroo. She gave me the shovel talk as soon as your back was turned.”

“Oh.” Bucky’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

“Yep. I kind of saw it coming. You have some really good friends, babe.”

“I guess so,” though he had no idea Peggy was protective of him.

“Tony, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Pepper asked, smiling.

“Oh, right,” Tony smiled sheepishly, “Bucky, this is Pepper, the light of my life. Pepper, Bucky, my snickerdoodle.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Bucky,” Pepper shook his hand, “I’m really glad you and Tony found each other. It’s nice to see him so happy all the time.”

“Okay, introductions are over,” Tony shooed her, embarrassment clear on his face.

“Fine, fine,” Pepper smiled coyly and waved goodbye as she left out, “Tell Ms. Romanov to visit my office when she comes back. Tony, you still have papers to sign. Don’t get too distracted by your boyfriend.”

“No promises,” Tony answered honestly, “See you later, Pep.”

  She huffed good-naturedly, “Bye.”

“I didn’t know you were close to Ms. Potts,” Bucky commented.

Clint and Tony stared at him.

“What?”

“Bucky, I talk about Pepper all the time,” Tony said slowly, “Who did you think I was talking?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “Well not every Pepper is CEO of Stark Industries. In fact, most aren’t.”

Tony and Clint’s eyes met, their faces wearing matching expressions of confusion. Clint questioned Bucky curiously, “What’s his last name?”

Bucky searched through his memory for Tony’s last name and came up empty and feeling horrible. “I’m a terrible person. I don’t even know my boyfriend’s last name.”

Clint chortled, “This is fucking priceless. Wait a minute, don’t tell him yet. Let me record this.”

“Record what, asshole?” Bucky watched as Clint fumbled for his phone but Tony turned his head gently then met his eyes with a hesitant smile.

“Um, Bucky, Buckaroo, Bucky-bear, I have something to say that may shock you,” Tony said as a precursor, “It may be upsetting but I don’t want you to overreact. I’m still your Tony.”

“Okay…”

“I’m Tony Stark.”

Bucky blinked at him. Then turned to Clint to see the asshole actually recording this. “Is this some type of joke?”

“No, babe, look,” Tony got out his wallet and handed him his driver’s license. “I’m actually Tony Stark. Of Stark Industries. You know, billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark. Except, I guess, all you’ve seen is Tony.”

Bucky turned the license around in his hand, mind processing the information. “How the hell did I not know this?”

Tony shrugged, “I really don’t know. Everyone you introduced me to recognized me. I thought someone told you at some point. Or you saw my face on one of the hundreds of places where it’s plastered.”

Bucky’s mind flashed back to Steve’s reaction to Tony, the open-mouthed shock, the questioning he went through after their date, even that weird question he asked, ‘are you going to make your relationship public?’ “I can’t believe I missed that.”

“I can’t either,” Clint snorted, “Bucky, dude, you are seriously oblivious. And smitten. In fact, I’m calling dibs on groomsman. I earned that after listening to you gush like a teenage girl.”  

Bucky felt himself blush, “Shut up, I wasn’t that bad.” He repeated to Tony after hearing him chuckle. “I wasn’t. I was just sharing with my co-worker. No gushing happened.”

“That’s too bad, I’m sure Pepper is sick of hearing me gush about you,” Tony kissed his cheek. “Now why don’t we find a supply closet to have ‘I’m glad you’re not freaked out by me being a billionaire’ sex?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have so much to say about this:  
> 1\. Since when is Steve and Peggy a ship I do? Like, brain, what the hell happened there? This ship crosses my mind exactly 3 times a year and this happened to be one of the times? How does that even make sense?
> 
> 2\. Peter Parker? *looks around* who lost their Peter Parker and how did he end up here? This is the first time I've EVER written Peter Parker into a fanfic of mine. He's never even been mentioned. 
> 
> 3\. Okay, I didn't think up a third complaint for what my brain did then I remembered Uncle Ben is alive in this. Like, my brain thought 'Uncle Ben should be here too' and slid him in. Just mentioned but again, a first for me. He's usually dead in my brain space.
> 
> 4\. Finally, Hope you liked it, Mariana!


End file.
